A Mountain of Saints and Sages: Muslims in the Landscape of Popular Religion in Late Imperial China

Abstract

Near the beginning of the Qing dynasty (1636-1912), the mausoleum of a Sufi saint, the Pavilion of Lingering Illumination, was constructed on an ancient Daoist mountain in the town of Baoning, Sichuan province. Over the following centuries, the shrine became one of the most heavily patronized religious sites in the province. There, state officials oversaw rain-making rituals, local gentry supplicated for success in the civil examinations, and Manchu bannermen bestowed dedications celebrating the empire’s military campaigns in Xinjiang. While Qing officials recognized it as an Islamic site, many of the town’s residents treated it like any other Chinese shrine, emphasizing its connections to the region’s fengshui and its efficacy for rain-making. Through exploring the shrine’s history, this article provides a new window into Islam as a “local religion” in China, a survey of the flexible religious contours of the imperial state, and a richer understanding of Qing patronage for the institutions of minority groups. It argues that this Islamic site played a central role in the wider social life and governance of the area.